An eyewitness to the trampling of an Ultra security guard says the moment of mob violence was “one of the worst things I’ve ever seen.” Ivette Lozano was outside the music festival Friday night when she saw a group of young men suddenly force their way over a flimsy chain-link…
Update: We spoke with a witness to the stampede that landed security guard Erica Mack in the hospital. Ultra Music Festival was marred by a horrific incident last night as a “mob” of people pushed down a gate onto a female security guard. The guard, Erica Mack, is now fighting…
In December, we broke the news that the Miami Beach Community Church was strongly considering leasing its courtyard to commercial developers. Church leaders called the $100 million offer a “miracle from God.” Meanwhile, locals — and even some church members — said the church was selling its sanctuary for 30…
Anthony Rodriguez was a mama’s boy. Known as SonicC, the up-and-coming local DJ was a music prodigy. Only 22 years old, he had already had his tracks featured in the videogame Grand Theft Auto and on popular TV programs. But his mother, Rita, had always kept him grounded. So when…
Cedric Gervais lounges by the pool of his Biscayne Point bungalow in nothing but a pair of small white swim shorts and sunglasses. He is buff and bronze, with cheekbones like cliff ledges. House music ebbs and swells around him. It is 75 degrees and sunny. Add a couple of…
Cedric Gervais lounges by the pool of his Biscayne Point bungalow in nothing but a pair of small white swim shorts and sunglasses. He is buff and bronze, with cheekbones like cliff ledges. House music ebbs and swells around him. It is 75 degrees and sunny. Add a couple of…
Anthony Rodriguez was a mama’s boy. Known as SonicC, the up-and-coming local DJ was a music prodigy. Only 22 years old, he had already had his tracks featured in Grand Theft Auto and on popular TV programs. But his mother, Rita, had always kept him grounded. So when SonicC’s curfew…
Máximo Caminero’s self-described “performance art piece” has pissed off a lot of people. His decision to smash a 2,000-year-old urn — painted by Chinese contemporary artist Ai Weiwei and put on display at the Pérez Art Museum Miami — enraged everyone from local artists to Ai himself. But Caminero’s most…
Two years ago, a New Times investigation raised serious questions about the planning and execution of a Miami-Dade Police operation that left four robbers dead in the Redland. Last week — nearly three years after the June 30, 2011 shootout — the State Attorney’s Office finally announced that none of…
On February 16, a middle-aged man with hazel eyes and a crown of salt-and-pepper hair walked into Pérez Art Museum Miami. The heavy wooden doors on the new $220 million public building swung open with a whisper. Smooth jazz murmured from speakers hidden somewhere in the Dorothy and Aaron Podhurst…
This week’s feature story focuses on Máximo Caminero, the local artist who made international headlines last month by destroying a precious urn painted by Ai Weiwei. At the time, much of the media attention centered on the urn’s million-dollar price tag. But Caminero says cops were guessing, and both PAMM…
Wynwood is changing at warp speed. Some walls are going up. Others are coming down. Galleries go out. Ducati dealerships come in. The only constant seems to be the neighborhood’s ever-evolving coat of graffiti, shed periodically like a serpent’s skin. So it’s no surprise that yet another controversial condo project…
Nearly three years after one of the bloodiest police operations in recent Miami history, prosecutors have issued a scathing report calling the killings “unusual, counter-intuitive, suspicious” and “disturbing.” The June 30, 2011 sting — in which four suspects, including a police informant, were shot dozens of times — was the…
Seven months after Israel “Reefa” Hernandez was killed by Miami Beach cops, authorities finally announced what his family knew all along: The teen died from being hit with a Taser. The findings, which were disclosed last week by the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office, contradict both news reports and claims by…
Alex Sink just can’t seem to win anything. Four years after her narrow loss to now governor Rick Scott, Sink again came up short yesterday in a special election for Florida’s 13th congressional district. The contest was closely watched across the country. It was widely billed as a bellwether for…
Friends of Israel “Reefa” Hernandez gathered this morning outside the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office to demand the arrest of the cop who killed the teenager. Armed with an autopsy report confirming that Reefa died because he was Tasered — and not because of drugs or “excited delirium,” the condition often…
Seven months after Israel “Reefa” Hernandez was killed by Miami Beach cops, authorities finally announced what his family has claimed all along: that the teen died from being Tasered. The findings, which were disclosed yesterday by State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, contradict both news reports and claims by Taser that…
After decades of the war on drugs, countless efforts to decriminalize dope, and tens of thousands of drug arrests, Florida has finally reached a turning point. The marijuana movement has reached critical mass. In January, the state supreme court ruled that voters can decide whether or not to legalize medical…
Of the thousands in J.C. Bermudez Park last month protesting Venezuela’s chavista government, only one was dressed all in black. J.J. Rendón stood out solemnly in the sea of white. Latin America’s most infamous political consultant wouldn’t have had it any other way. For the 15 years since Hugo Chávez…
Three Florida women were arrested on Friday after they allegedly slapped, kicked, and choked a 14-year-old girl. The adults then forced the girl to take off her clothes so they could beat her with a belt. The incident took place in Orange City, Florida. When Volusia County Sheriff’s deputies arrived…
Six months to the day after teenager Israel “Reefa” Hernandez died when Miami Beach cops shot him with a Taser, another young man has met the same fate — this time when Miami-Dade Police used the device. Willie Sams was visiting family members in Liberty City on February 5 when…
A brutal sucker punch. A breathtaking donut shop stick-up. The creative use of a valet sign to viciously assault someone. It’s all just another day on CrooksTube. The website is devoted to surveillance videos of America’s most horrific unsolved crimes, from random assaults to armed robberies involving knives, guns, even…
